Terminal arrangement



y 8, 1954 J. H. JAIDINGER 2,679,031

TERMINAL ARRANGEMENT Filed March 25, 1950 I N VEN TOR.

' Jolzkli Jaz'di er Patented May 18, 1954 I UNITED STATES PATENT OFFICE TERMINAL ARRANGEMENT John H. J aidinger, Chicago, Ill.

Application March 25, 1950, Serial No. 151,908

1 Claim. (Cl. 339-217) This invention relates to a relay construction. More particularly it relates tothe provision of a sturdier construction of that portion thereof which carries the terminal lugs, as well as the lugs themselves. By terminal lugs I refer to the means by which the incoming electrical conductors are connected to the relay operating coil.

Conventionally the ends of the coil winding are brought out through apertures in one of the end plates of the bobbin upon which the coil is wound, and by means of a hollow rivet the coil end is held against the end plate, the incoming lead being positioned in the center of the rivet and soldered. In other constructions the rivet secures a terminal lug to which the incoming conductor is soldered. In the first case the handling of the incoming lead and the heat of soldering quite often results in breakage or weakening of the usually fine gauge coil wire, or in loosening of the rivet. In the latter case the lug, which is held at only one end, may become loose with respect to the rivet, or due to careless. handling and vibration during use the lug and rivet together with a portion of the end plate may be broken off.

In view of the foregoing, it is one of the objects of the invention to provide a sturdy construction for associating the terminal lug with the coil.

Another object resides in constructing the end plate of the coil of the relay and the mounting frame thereof in their relation toone another so as to result in substantially greater support for those portions of the end plate to which the terminal lugs are secured.

Still a further object is to arrange the assembly of the coil end plate and terminal lugs so as to yield a minimum transverse dimension.

An additional object resides in providing a terminal lug of substantially greater rigidity without increasing the thickness of the sheet stock employed therefor.

Other objects will become apparent as the description proceeds.

In the drawing which shows one form in which the invention may be embodied; I

Fig. 1 is a side elevational view of atypical relay embodying the invention;

Fig. 2 is an end view thereof;

Fig. 3 is a cross sectional view taken on the line 3-3 of Fig. 1;

Fig. 4 is a cross-sectional view taken on the line 4-4 of Fig. 1; and

Fig. 5 is a perspective detail of one of the terminal lugs.

While the invention is capable of a wide range of the invention to provide a sturdy construction to a simple relay in order to provide suitable environment. Broadly the invention is intended for use in any application involving a coil or similar electrical component which is to be placed in circuit with external wiring.

Turning to the drawing, the relay there shown includes a steel frame or yoke 10 which also serves as part of the flux path of the operating coil ii. Frame It is substantially of Z-shape and includes a lower horizontal leg I2, a vertical leg !3 and an upper horizontal leg 14. Coil II is secured in any convenient manner, as by staking a shouldered end of the core l6 thereof, to leg [25. Leg 14 supportsa contact stack or stacks it of any form, which form no part of the invention and will not be further described. An armature is of any suitable character is adapted, through. an insulated extension 2|, to operate the contacts of stacks l8, and is hinged, as at 22, with respect to vertical leg l3. A coil spring 23 intermediate the rearward extension of the armature l9 and the frame I0 biases the former to rest position. Directing attention particularly to the gist of the invention the coil H comprises awinding 26, a lower end plate 2! and an upper end plate 28, both latter being of electrically insulating material. Upper plate 28 is preferably of the form shown (Fig. 3), including a semi-circular part, a rectangular part, and a pair of rearwardly extending, preferably rectangular, projections 29-2 9. These latter are snugly received in slots or notches 3I-3i (Fig. 2) in the opposite edges of leg I3, whereby substantial interlocking sup port is provided for those corners of the plate 28 overhanging the perimeter of the winding 25, and to which are secured the terminal lugs now to be described.

The two leads (not shown) forming the termini of the winding 26 are brought out and soldered to hollow rivets or similar means 35-35, secured to plate 28 beyond the perimeter of the winding. Also secured by rivets 35 is a pair of with a conventiona1 terminal lug which is disposed flatwise and thus easily deformed by an external force. Moreover, clue to its novel form, the lug of the invention may be made of substantially lighter stock than would be the case for a conventional terminal lug made entirely in one place.

By tightly fitting the projections 29-49 in, notches 3l-3I any strain on the plate 28 due to the external conductors or other force is received principally by the stee1 yoke or frame l3 thereby rendering practically negligible any danger of breakage of the frangible insulating terial of which plate 28 is usually composed. It i will be understood that the notches 3l-3l may find their equivalent in closed aperturesiorsurface recesses in the leg [3.

Referring specifically to Fig. 3 it will be'see'n that plate 28 is recessed on each edge as at30-38 to receive connecting part 30 of lug 36 in flush relation .with the margins of the plate. Thus employment of the-lug of the invention need not require a transverse dimension for the assembly greater than that of the plate 23 alone, and the compactness of'the assembly is thereby considerably enhanced.

In the embodiment of the invention shown connecting part 38 of a lug 36 is so disposed as to require electrical clearance with respect to the leg |3 of -yoke l0. Accordinglynotches 454-5 (Fig. 2) may beprovided for such purpose. However the depth of such notches should be minimized inorder-not to reduce unnecessarily the available cross, section of the leg 53 which forms part of the'electromagnetic circuit. In this connection it is to be noted that by disposing the connecting part 30 of'the lu'gtfi vertically edgewise, the depth of the clearance notch 45 may be reduced substantially over what would be required by the conventional horizontally edgewise positioning of the terminallug. Obviously a lug positioned in the conventional mannerioccupies greater space transversely, whereas compactness in that direction is often an important desideratum, My invention is of particularadvantage for such applications. v Another important advantage resides in the locking of the terminal lug against rotation about itsiattaching rivet or equivalent. In one type'of prior construction, the lug was so locked by engaging a downwardly, bent ear of the'lug in an aperture of the end plate of the coil, sometimes described'as the anchor lug. Such construction was largely ineffective since the plate is weakened by forming the additional holetherin, and jupon even moderate rotational'force the anchoring ear could twist "out of the aperture. Moreover such lug required considerable space beyond the coil perimeter with resultant unde-v sirable overhang of the end plate. Another form of lug designed with a View to resistingrotation was provided with a square integralshank fitted within a square aperture inthe end plate. This construction was deficient in that'the soldering iron often heated the plastic end plate to the point where play wascreated lbetweenlth'e shank and aperture, likewise with detrimental consequences.

mg in a recess.

recesses'are shown, but only'to indicate that the transverse dimension of therelay may be minimized by nesting the connecting portion of the Equivalent structural advantages, i. e., resistance to bending and pivoting, may be obtained without resorting to recesses It will be und erstood that the invention is of pa'rticular benefit-in those cases where the end plate must be maintained to dimensions only slightly greater than the exterior diameter of the coil, and for considerations of space.

While'l'have shown particular embodiments of my invention, it will be understood, of course, that I do not wish to be limited thereto since many modificationsmay be made, and I therefore contemplateby the appended claims to cover any such modifications as fall within the true spirit and scope of 'my invention.

Having thus described my invention, what I claim and desire to secure by Letters Patent is: A terminal and end plate construction for a bobbin upon which a solenoid is wound comprising a relatively thin plate of electrically-insulating material having a surface and two edges meeting in a corner, one of said edges having an elongated notch opening into the other edge, and aterminal lug including a mutually'prependioular ear and elongated wire-attaching portion, the car being juxtaposed to said surface and secured thereto, and the wire attaching portion being abutted'ag'ainst the wall of the notch with the exterior face of the portion'substantially flush with said one of said edges androjecting beyond said corner.

References Cited in the file of this patent UNITED STATES PA rE'N'rs 

